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Thursday, August 17, 2017

The Virtuous Woman by Zainab Alkali: A Synopsis

The
Virtuous Woman by Zainab Alkali is a love story about
the easy and principled life of a young beautiful woman named Nana Ai, as she discovers
love at first sight and the strangeness that often accompanies such a feeling.

The village of Zuma has just been blessed with the
news that two of their daughters, Laila and Hajjo have made it into the
prestigious Her Majesty’s College at Birni Dala. Even though the two girls are
not the first to enjoy this privilege (already a student there is Nana Ai, but
now on a holiday), the entire village often takes the pride that one of their
own are in the popular school. This is because Her Majesty’s College is the
kind of school mostly attended by children born with a silver spoon in their
mouths.

But the girls have got different reasons they are
excited about attending the new school. For Hajjo, a sixteen year old girl, who
lives with her grandmother, the admission is an escape from a life she believes
she does not deserve. She is not only maltreated by the rest of the members of
the family but she is also poorly fed and clothed. In her extended family home,
she feels like an outcast. For this reason, she so longs for the journey. Laila
on the other hand, is a spoilt brat and a forward girl. She is loquacious and uncouth.
She is Hajjo’s cousin. She longs for the journey to the new school so she could
be free to do as she pleases.

But the two younger girls have already been placed
under the care of a more mature and principled Nana. Time for the journey and
the girls are accompanied to the bus park by Nana’s father, Baba Sani, who
never stops reminding Nana never to relent in exhibiting all the good virtues
he has taught him.

But as soon as the old man goes back home, Laila
gets into her element. She goes into the nearby bush only to resurface with a
painted face and lips, looking like a slut. She believes that is the only way
they can get a free ride and gets to their destination on time. A car stops by
but Nana will not allow them to take it because the man in the car does not
look responsible.

When they get to the Secretariat the Secretary is not
around. They meet the clerk-receptionist instead who is hostile to them. But of
course, Laila enjoys the company of two boys, Abubakar and Bello. Bello is a
rich boy while Abubakar is from a poor home. They are both students at King’s
College. When the girls go back to check the secretary the
next day they find out he is the man whose free ride they had rudely turned
down the other day. The man is to give them the transport fare and an escort. As
a way of punishing the girls, especially Nana for her rudeness, the secretary gives
them Mallam Jauro, a seventy years old man as escort.

The journey is a long one and everybody on the bus
has started to know one another. The driver is a very careful one, unlike those
of other two buses speeding in front of them, Allah Kiyaye and Allah Seriki. When
the rain begins, the two buses with the reckless drivers are now stuck in a
little ditch, making it impossible for other vehicles including the one the girls
are travelling in to pass. So together all the passengers in the three buses are
stuck.

Now bound together by fate, all the passengers have
to come to terms with how to survive their predicament. As they are in the
middle of a forest with no dwelling in sight, they have to make themselves
happy. To start with, they need to have something to eat. At first, nobody
wants to volunteer to go to the nearby village to get food. However, Bello and
Abubakar volunteer, and each passenger contributes the money with him or her and
the boys go with the teacher’s bicycle to get them food. When they return
everybody eats and has enough and Musa Doggo treats everyone to a nice music
and entertains them with his jest. The man becomes a jester and a lively person
to disguise his unfortunate situation about which Nana is told by the mother of
the twins.

When the road is dry, the lorries are finally moved back
on track and the journey resumes. As though what happened earlier was a warning,
the two carelessly speeding Lorries are later to be found wrecked in a ghastly
motor accident. Almost all the passengers in the two buses are dead, except for
the drivers. Some other people sustain a very serious injury. Abubakar is dead
but Bello is alive with an injury. The injured ones, including Bello, are taken
to the hospital.

The girls are on the train to Birni Dala. While on
the train, Nana and the two girls, Hajjo and Laila, sit in front of a sleeping boy
who appeared to have sustained some injuries. Because he uses a newspaper to
cover his face, none of the girls can recognise him. An army officer aboard the
train relates well with the girls and invites them for lunch. The two
girls consent except for Nana, who is bent on not collecting anything from a
stranger. While the girls are gone with the officer, Nana recognises the
sleeping man as Bello. Both get along well and have a hearty conversation, with
each unable to conceal his or her affection towards the other, even though none
of them mentions it directly. It is very clear now that Nana is in love with Bello
but is very shy to express it. Both understand this and decide to communicate
only telepathically. When the train arrives Birni Dala, Nana reads the letter sent them by
the old man, Mallam Jauro, their escort. It also comes with some money. They
are happy to know that at last the man is still alive, despite all he had been
through during the long journey.

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